Bangkok, Thailand: Gaggan Restaurant

As soon as we knew where we were going for our honeymoon, I was researching top restaurants to go to. I found that the #1 restaurant in Asia and #10 in the world, Gaggan, is located in Bangkok. So obviously we had to go. I made a reservation months in advance, and due to a delayed flight, we almost missed it! But have no fear, we made it and enjoyed every second.

This is a 5-star "progressive Indian" restaurant with the stellar service you would expect. The restaurant felt like a house, but did not hold the stuffy atmosphere a lot of top restaurants do. It was actually very laid back, and the food and menu were playful. There are only 2 options for a meal - "Taste of Gaggan" or "Best of Gaggan." 

We went for only the best - 22 courses! The whole experience was very curated and thoughtfully designed with instructions on the order in which to eat what was presented and how to consumer each dish. The chef used molecular gastronomy and scientific techniques for each dish. Superb presentation!

Welcome drink- mango ginger chili

Left: Yogurt explosion - had a membrane around it and it slipped around in the spoon like a yolk; the yogurt exploded in your mouth
Center: Edible nuts - pistachio and wasabi inside a rice paper packet; looked like a dime bag
Right: Chocolate chilly bomb - tamarind chili liquid inside chocolate; "aluminum" was edible

Left: Bond's Martini with Elbulli olive "spheres"
Right: Twist on an Old Fashioned, infused with Cohiba cigar smoke - see video below

Top Left: Bird's nest - like a nested latka
Top Right: Onion pakota - seaweed in a powdery texture
Bottom: Papadam and tomato chutney- rice wafer balls

Top: Keema (lamb) samosa
Bottom Left: CTM burger - chicken green tomato bahn - bun is a rice wafer like air and got stuck on roof of mouth
Bottom Right: Idly sambar - coconut fluffy foamy spicy kick at end

Egg bhurjee - the outside shell was like fondant...

..and inside was whipped egg and cheese with curry spices atop an Indian salsa (if that existed) with a dollop of creme fraiche

Our "mystery" dish arrived under a smoke-filled cover...

...and looked like charcoal with ash snow on top

Can you guess?
(it was sea bass inside wrapped in burnt bamboo, and the "ash" was onion powder)

Magic mushroom - crunchy mushroom log with black truffle throughout the dish. The "soil" was truffle and chili powder and maybe wasabi with a dollop of black truffle cream.

"Fruit Salad"...

..meanwhile a chef came to the table for the red matcha tea ceremony. He mixed dried tomato purée powder with a tomato consomme (tomatoes hang-dried for 24 hours and the juice that comes out of it)...

...after we ate the fruit they added the "soup" to our bowl

Patrani - seabass, coconut, dashi radish, foam

Pig & pickle - the pork was like juicy bacon paired with wasabi and curry sauces and little picked onion rounds that added a nice tang and crunch

Dhokla- coconut ice cream covered in lentil snow. Maybe mimicking a pallet cleanser as it was mid-meal

Who killed the goat? - Lamb with saffron oil on top of Apple chutney with beet sauce. OMG. Best lamb I have ever had. Melting.

I want my curry! 3 dishes arrived stacked up and the waiter came over to unstack them for us, but not before an awkward little skit playing out the "give me my curry" vibe from the dish title.
Giant pieces of blue swimmer crab that were tender and soft, not rubbery at all.

Gajar halwa - black carrot ice team in a carrot cone with pistachio on top

Fall Season - chocolate on chocolate on chocolate

Bombay Cassatta - freeze dried texture

Digestive tamarind leather

Outside view of Gaggan

The happy (and FULL) couple!

Chiang Mai, Thailand: 11/19/15

Today we did a half-day cycling excursion with Click & Travel all around the outskirts of Chiang Mai. We joined a group of ten Belgians, since it wouldn't be feasible to run a trip for only two people, and set off on an ~18 mile adventure. The company has bikes for women and men and provides helmets and water. My bike was pretty decent, a mountain bike with multiple gear options, but after 5 hours your butt gets really sore! We rode along the Ping River, which runs throughout the city, and they break up the ride with a few stops to give you a little rundown on the region and culture. Our first stop was kind of weird, at a former leper colony turned rehab center for disabled people. They make and sell crafts at this shop, but I can't imagine anyone but these bike tours comes to it. We then continued along through the beautiful orchards, landscape and villages, and visited temple ruins and an active local village temple. We stopped for lunch at a small little restaurant off the side of the road which honestly was not very good. The plainest pad thai ever (I think they were being too cognizant of foreigners' sensitivities) and fruit. We then rode all the way back to our starting point at the Belgian group's hotel. Overall, it was a fun activity and a way to see random parts of Thailand outside of the city. Jeremy particularly enjoyed it as he is an avid biker. Though it was a leisurely ride, we were definitely tired after!

After the ride, we went back to the hotel, packed up and got ready to go to the airport for our final stop - Bangkok!

Chiang Mai, Thailand: 11/18/15

Today we went on a full day group excursion to the Patara Elephant Farm. After being driven up a huge winding mountain, we were greeted by 3 elephants - mother and 2 kids. One was only a few months old and was absolutely adorable. The elephants were extremely friendly and the baby was especially playful. She was going right up to people, nudging them the way a dog would for attention, and then actually rolling onto them playfully.

After we all took a bunch of pictures, we were briefed on the camp mission and the activities for the day. The camp prides itself on their elephant farm management and breeding programs, and made it very clear that this was not about seeing elephants do tricks. Rather, it was about helping rehabilitate elephants in need and setting them back on track. 

We each were assigned an elephant and became its caretaker for the day, along with the dedicated trainer. First we fed them sugar cane and bananas, gave them water and rinsed them off. Then we learned commands in Thai and actually rode them for an hour down a crazy path with rocks and trees and all kinds of obstacles. Let me tell you - it was hard! You have to sit on their neck so their shoulder blades don't throw you off when they move their legs and rest your knees on their ears. You have one rope loop behind you to hold and then you can rest the other hand on their head. My arms and inner thighs were shaking after and so sore the next day! 

After we got to the river, they had a wonderful lunch spread set out for us including fried chicken, several types of rice packaged up in banana leaves, tons of exotic fruit, and a bunch of fried desserts like fried banana and coconut patty cakes. 

Next it was time to bathe the elephants in the river. We used baskets to splash water all over them and scrub their skin with a brush. It was actually really fun to play with them in the water. There was a photo opp moment for each couple and they had the elephants spray us with water from their trunks. 

We then returned back to the camp and concluded the day. It was such a fun, interactive experience for us and we were in awe of the gentle nature of these giants.